Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday signed a memorandum to clarify the U.S. Forest Service’s direction on climate policy. The memo, "Climate Resilience and Carbon Stewardship of America's National Forests and Grasslands," follows a recent White House executive order highlighting the importance of conserving mature and old-growth forests on federal lands as a climate solution. The memo, which lays out “actions to restore forests, improve resilience, and address the climate crisis”, falls short in meeting the ambition outlined in President Joe Biden’s order on old forests and trees. Secretary Vilsack acknowledges the role that older trees play in absorbing and storing carbon and supporting biodiversity. But he fails to outline a plan for his agency to protect mature and old-growth forests and trees from commercial logging.
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The National Park Service partially re-opened Yellowstone National Park today June 22 after catastrophic floods washed out roads and bridges last week, cutting off access to the park and forcing evacuations from the park and gateway communities in the area. A combination of snow melt and higher than normal rainfall caused the flood conditions, which were the largest in Yellowstone’s history. Such extreme weather conditions are being exacerbated by the effects of climate change.
Esta mañana, el Presidente Biden instó al Congreso a apoyar la suspensión del impuesto federal a los combustibles como intento de reducir el castigo que sufre el público en las gasolineras.
A new report on the potential impacts of Plaquemines LNG was released and sent this morning in a set of joint comments from Sierra Club and Healthy Gulf to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which urge the agency to deny the facility’s request to produce an additional 3.2 MTPA (million metric tons per year) of fracked gas. The organizations also argue that FERC must prepare a new Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that fully analyzes the facility’s potential impact on the environment, climate, and environmental justice communities in the construction of the Plaquemines LNG export terminal.
UTAH – Sierra Club has filed a suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for approving two coal lease modifications authorizing a 7 million-ton expansion of the Lila Canyon underground coal mine that would cause severe climate damage, impacting air quality, and diminished visibility in natural areas like the Book Cliffs Mountain Range, Turtle Canyon Wilderness area, and the San Rafael Swell. If allowed to go forward, the expansion would result in more than 11 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
La Bancada Republicana del Congreso planea emitir una estrategia que usa las palabras “cambio climático”. Se espera que los planes detallen numerosas medidas que no solo rechazan el consenso científico sobre el esfuerzo requerido para combatir la crisis climática sino que la empeora.
Dover, Delaware — Today, Senator Hansen and Representative Heffernan introduced the Delaware Climate Change Solutions Act, which establishes statewide greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets of 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, from 2005 levels. The bill addresses all sectors of the economy and directs state agencies to incorporate the emissions reductions goals and climate impact scenarios into current and future regulatory decision-making and rulemaking.
La Unión Europea adoptó hoy su plan RePowerEU para empezar a eliminar las importaciones de combustibles fósiles de Rusia. RePowerEU se centrará en aumentar la eficacia energética y exigir ahorros, para así reducir los obstáculos a la energía limpia y expandir la energía solar. La meta es reducir dos tercios de las importaciones de gas fósil de Rusia este año y el resto para 2027.
Esta mañana, los accionistas de JPMorgan Chase fracasaron en su intento de aprobar resoluciones climáticas claves, al rechazar propuestas que hubieran obligado al banco acabar su apoyo al desarrollo de nuevas explotaciones de combustibles fósiles y para establecer objetivos absolutos de reducción de la financiación de emisiones de efecto invernadero.
Al igual que no se puede negociar con pirómanos cuánto puede arder un edificio, es imposible negociar con un partido de negacionistas climáticos. Por décadas, la abrumadora mayoría de los republicanos del Congreso han dejado más que claro su opinión sobre el cambio climático: No hay nada que hacer, incluso si existiera.
El Sierra Club lanza su primer calculador bilingüe que permite a consumidores latinos calcular el impacto energético en sus hogares. El calculador bilingüe está disponible para el celular y la computadora.
El Presidente Biden, en medio de llamados en todo el país para actuar audazmente contra la crisis climática por medio de decisiones legislativas y ejecutivas, emitió hoy una orden ejecutiva sobre bosques y otras soluciones basadas en la naturaleza.